The Promoting Interoperability Program has been an important mechanism for driving improvement in public health reporting through the program’s Public Health and Clinical Data Exchange Objective. By including measures that require hospitals to use certified health IT to capture and share public health data (e.g., immunization reporting, syndromic surveillance, reportable lab tests and results, case reporting) the program supports nationwide early warning of emerging outbreaks and threats, faster public health response, and greater visibility into immunization uptake which, in turn, can inform tailored vaccine distribution strategies.
The 2023 IPPS rule expands the list of required public health measures under the Promoting Interoperability Program to include antimicrobial use and resistance (AUR) surveillance. Beginning in 2024, to earn full credit under the Public Health Objective, hospitals must report AUR data to CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). In order to complete this reporting, hospitals must use health IT certified under ONC’s certification program to the “Transmission to public health agencies — antimicrobial use and resistance reporting” certification criterion. More information about the criterion’s capabilities, associated standards, and guidance for health IT developers can be found in the Certification Companion Guide…
As part of the final rule, CMS encouraged hospitals to capture this information using screening tools that record data in a standardized format in accordance with health IT vocabulary standards. By using tools that capture the social drivers of health screening results in a standardized way, hospitals can ensure this critical information is available to other providers delivering care and services to a patient, including community-based organizations that receive referrals to support individuals’ social needs.
CMS also highlighted Version 2 of the United States Core Data Interoperability (USCDI), published in July 2021, which included new data classes for SDOH Problems/Health Concerns, SDOH Interventions, SDOH Goals, and SDOH Assessments. ONC recently published USCDI Version 3, which maintains the SDOH elements in Version 2. Under ONC’s Standards Version Advancement Process (SVAP), hospitals can work with developers of certified health IT to upgrade their certified health IT products to USCDI Version 2 to support ensure availability of standardized, interoperable information about social determinants of health captured in their systems… Read the full article here.
